The Sri Venkatesh Lotus Temple auditorium in Greater Washington D.C. reverberated recently with ‘Trinaad’, a three-dimensional array of musical sounds comprising the melodious Mandolin of U. Rajesh, tenor tabla by Harshad Kanetkar, and the bass sound of kanjira by Swaminathan Selvaganesh.
The Musicians
U. Rajesh is the younger brother of the late Maestro U. Srinivasan, better known as Mandolin Srinivasan for his mastery over the instrument. Following his untimely demise, the equally talented Rajesh carries forward his luminous legacy with earnest zeal. One of the most sought-after instrumentalists of his generation, both in the Carnatic music concert circuits and the collaborative fusion genre, Rajesh has performed at prestigious festivals and venues in India and abroad. In the U.S., he has enthralled audiences at the Lincoln Center in NYC and the Kennedy Center in Washington, and also at venues in Germany, Australia and the UK. He is equally at ease with the intricate gamakas of Carnatic music as he is with the deft improvisational flair central to his collaborative ventures with exponents of world music and jazz.
38 years of Indian American stories depend on what you do next. Stand with us today.
Accompanying him was Harshad Kanetkar, an Indian tabla player groomed under Shri Ramdas Palsule and Palsule’s guru Pt. Suresh Talwalkar. Equally adept at performing solo and accompanying other musicians in an ensemble, he has played with leading artists in prestigious music conferences.
Swaminathan Selvaganesh comes from a family of illustrious Indian percussionists; his grandfather is Grammy Award winner ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram and his father is V. Selvaganesh, a kanjira virtuoso who is a part of the legendary world music band, Shakti.
Chaitanya, a young student of Rajesh also shared the stage, assisting the latter with keeping the taal or rhythm.
An Auspicious Beginning with Krithis
Rajesh opened the concert with “Vinayaka”, a krithi in the Hamsadhwani raga, set to the Adi Tala, composed by Patnam Subramaniam Iyer. He stated that he had already received three long lists of “farmaish” – special requests from audience members – that would take at least seven hours to perform. And so, he picked a few from each list.
Next came two krithis: “Nadaloludai” in raga Kalyana-Vasantham and “Saraswathi Namostute” in raga Saraswathi, an invocatory composition of G.N. Balasubramaniam. The popular krithi of Saint Thyagaraja in raga Hindolam “Samaja Varagamana” came next, followed by another Thyagaraja composition “Ksheersagar” in raga Devagandhari.
The thoughtful curation of rare and popular krithis, and his nuanced expression of each raga struck a chord with the listeners.
Music Melds With Mathematics
Carnatic music is known for the peppy Swara Prasthara style of vocalization, in which the performers create patterns of notes that the percussionists match. These patterns are often complex, packed with ephemeral improvisations, syncopated time signatures and rapidly changing melodic lines. Such passages present a test of mental agility for the listeners but are not all that challenging for high-caliber artists like Rajesh, Kanetkar, and Selvaganesh. In performing these complex patterns, the musicians devise permutations and combinations within the raga while keeping in step with the laya or the tempo.
The mandolin, tabla and kanjira gelled well, but one felt there was an excess of the Gopuchchha tihai. Gopuchchh Tihai, as the name suggests, resembles the tail of a cow, which goes thinner towards the tail end. Likewise, in Gopuchchh Tihai, the performer starts with a musical line of five notes, dropping one note with each iteration till the line only contains one note. This pattern repeats thrice before ending emphatically at the sama, which is the first note of the rhythmic cycle.
The audiences enjoyed a sumptuous variety of compositions. There came a light piece in raga Chakravakam, the savoring of Western harmony composed in raga Kadanakuthuhalam; the devotional fervor in the song “Jagadodharana” in raga Kapi; and the lilting gait of Annamacharya’s “Brahmam Okate” that holds a revered position in the realm of Carnatic music.
But the pièce de résistance was the Ragam Tanam Pallavi, specifically because Rajesh took some time to fine-tune his instrument before diving into it. Earlier, his mandolin sometimes felt out of tune, which surprisingly did not bother him.
Ragam Tanam Pallavi is a form of Carnatic music that is made up of three components. The Ragam section denotes the detailed elaboration of a raga; Tanam follows with a rhythmic feel devoid of any percussion support; and the Pallavi is set to a particular tala where the percussionist provides accompaniment. The three sections can be compared to the Aalaap, Jod, and Bandish forms in Hindustani Classical music.
This particular Ragam Tanam Pallavi was braided using three ragas Kirwani, Varali and Mohanam. The Ragam segment opened with a detailed alapana (elaboration) of Kirwani, gradually shifting to Varali and then to the contrasting Mohanam. A hidden rhythm emerged in the Tanam section, dealing with the three ragas respectively. The Pallavi – composed in Adi Tala – also had a judicious blend of the three ragas, capping an impressive feat of blending the contrasting notes of three different ragas flowing seamlessly. Kanetkar on tabla, and Selvaganesh on kanjira joined Rajesh during the Pallavi segment before an improvisational Thani Avartanam by the two percussionists.
Musical Harmony Gives Rise to Fulfilling ‘Trinaad’
Traditional composers believed in austerity and would refrain from experimenting, which suggests that Rajesh must have composed the Pallavi himself. However, one can only guess because Rajesh did not tell the audience the names of the ragas and talas, the words of the krithis, or the names of composers throughout the concert. This reviewer feels that music lovers who purchase tickets and drive long distances to attend the concerts of their beloved performers deserve this basic courtesy.
Seasoned percussionists know better than to overshadow the delicate voicings of melodic instruments like the mandolin, and Kanetkar and Selvaganesh were no exceptions. Their rhythms gracefully complemented the virtuosic quality of U Rajesh’s mandolin throughout the performance.
Nevertheless, the tabla and kanjira engaged in a robust dialogue of sawaal-jawaab (call-and-response) during the Thani Avartanam. Selvaganesh invited additional applause when he indulged in Konnakol, using his voice to express percussion syllables.
It appeared that the concert reached its culmination with the raga Sindhubhairavi, with Rajesh incorporating popular songs like “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” and “Sri Venkatachala Nilayam” into his piece. But surprisingly, Swathi Thirunal’s “Dhanashree Thillana” followed! Finally, the concert concluded with a performance of an auspicious Mangalam.
This collaboration between Rajesh, Kanetkar and Selvagaensh emphasized the immense value of collaboration in Carnatic music. It was a coming together of the artistic expressions of the three talented musicians, truly giving rise to a ‘Trinaad’ – a harmonious blend of three sounds – and a pleasing one at that.